Express yourself
by megan.hill.79025
Summary: It is the year 1900, my name is Rosemarie Raven, I am 19 years old and I am a lady's maid, along with my twin sister Amelia Raven to Lady Jane and Lady Mary Martinez.
Megan Hill

 **Express Yourself.**

 **Character Summaries:**

Rosemarie Raven

19

long auburn hair with a slight curl at the bottom

blue eyes flecked with spots of green and turns purple

very protective of sister, not as shy as sister

outgoing

Amelia Raven

19

long strawberry blonde hair with curls

green eyes

shy, compassionate

kind,

Rosemarie is her twin

Introvert

Only shows her true self to Rose.

Mason Ashford

20

protective,

brown short hair, with hazel colour eyes.

Will do anything for Rose.

Damon Gilbert

20

protective, black short hair, pale complexion, with ice blue eyes.

Medium build.

Introvert.

Robert Williams

49

caring, compassionate, and kind. Like a father to the twins.

Daisy Collins

18

kitchen maid

started working a year ago.

Lady Jane Martinez

20

kind

treats Rose and Amelia like family and with kindness

Parents are similar in personality and towards the twins

Very beautiful looking, long blonde hair with blue eyes.

Lady Mary Martinez

25

kind

treats Rose and Amelia like family and with kindness

Parents are similar in personality and towards the twins

Very beautiful looking, long dark brown hair with green eyes.

It is the year 1900, my name is Rosemarie Raven, I am 19 years old and I am a lady's maid, along with my twin sister Amelia Raven to Lady Jane and Lady Mary Martinez. We have worked for the Martinez family ever since they took us in out of kindness when the family found us on the doorstep when we were 10 years old left there by our mother, as she could not take care of us anymore, and we do not know anything of our father, our mother only met him once and then 9 months later my sister and I were born. The Martinez family treated us like their own, and once my sister and I turned 13 the Martinez family employed us as lady's maids to their two eldest daughters. My sister and I are happy with our life and we are treated well and receive a sustainable wage to support us both. This is the story of our life, and the tragedy that happened.

I woke up this morning to Amelia gently shaking me to wake up.

"Rosemarie, get up, you have 15 minutes until Lady Jane expects you in her room!" Amelia urges me.

"Ok, Ok I'm getting up" I grudgingly reply as I slowly sit up in bed.

"Oh and by the way Robert wants to see us in the kitchen before you go up to Lady Jane's bedroom." Amelia replies back as she is walking out of the room.

"Oh, ok." I grudgingly reply, as I get out of bed and dress myself quickly but efficiently and as I walk out the door I grab my apron hanging on the hook and tie it around my waist as I begin my descent down to the kitchen. As I'm walking down to the kitchen I hastily run my fingers through my hair as a comb and pull my hair up into a tight messy bun. I walk into the doorway of the kitchen just in time to stand next to Amelia.

"Rosemarie! Amelia! Slept in again did we? Will you come into my study for a moment?"

"Yes Robert, coming." We both reply in unison.

I walk past Robert through a doorway with Amelia behind me into a room no bigger than the kitchen pantry, I walk a little further inwards and then turn around to face him with Amelia standing beside me.

"Rosemarie, it has come to my attention that it will be your birthday tomorrow as well as Amelia's, and that you will both be turning 20 years' old which as you know is the coming of age, I say this because I have known you and Amelia since you first came here and have grown very fond of you and I would like to give you both a small gathering in the kitchen tomorrow night, what do you say?"

I look over to Amelia, who is staring wide eyed at Robert. So I speak up on behalf of both of us.

"That would be wonderful, thank you."

I look over at Amelia and she mouths the word thank you.

"Well than, that's settled, I will tell the rest of the house staff of our plans. But there will be more chores than usual to have everything done by tomorrow afternoon."

Amelia and I both nod our heads at Robert and slowly begin to walk past him and as I reach to grab the door handle, Mason; who is Robert's assistant opens the door. I stare at him wide-eyed, then Mason speaks.

"Robert, Mr Martinez would wish to see you regarding dinner tonight. Oh and Rose, Lady Jane is waiting for you."

"Thank you Mason. Excuse me." Robert replies walking in front of us and out of the doorway past Mason.

"Thanks Mason." I reply timidly while walk out of the room going past Mason as I do so, when I hear him reply

"Have a nice day Rose."

I look back at him and see him smiling, I smile back and reply

"You too"

I can feel my stomach feeling fluttery with butterflies and my face feels red and flustered as I slow my walk to walk beside Amelia who walked out of the room behind me.

"Rose, your cheeks are red and you look flustered, are you Ok?"

"I'm fine, it's just…. Mason, makes me feel so…. Happy, cared for, loved." I reply in an anxious tone.

"Rose, I think you're in love" Amelia replies with certainty

"You really think?" I reply with an uneasy tone.

We continue walking together until we reach the hallway where the bedrooms of the Martinez family are, there we walk towards the bedrooms of the sisters whom we serve, before I enter Lady Jane's bedroom Amelia walks over to me

"I think Mason is in love with you too, I think you should talk to him, you would both be good for each other."

Amelia walks back over to Lady Mary's door and walks inside. I stand in front of Lady Jane's doorway thinking about Mason for a moment and then I store those thoughts in my head for later and walk into Lady Jane's room to see her sitting up with her breakfast on her lap. I walk over to the fireplace and kneel down in front and carefully grab the poker stick from the stand and poke at the coals to move them around and keep the fire going. As I am doing this Lady Jane speaks regally

"Rosemarie, is it true that it will be your birthday and Amelia's soon. I remember when your sister and yourself were found outside on the doorstep wet and cold, and my mother brought you both inside, fed you, gave you clothes and a home." She says reminiscently.

"Yes Lady Jane, that is true." I reply with obedience.

"And I do believe you will both be turning 20, and coming of age?" She continues

"Yes that's correct." I reply back

"Do you or your sister have any plans for the milestone?"

"Yes we do, Robert has organized a gathering for us in the kitchen with all the house staff tomorrow night, Lady Jane." I answer.

"How thoughtful of him. Well I do hope you enjoy yourself, now I do believe I am ready to get dressed." Lady Jane responds. 

"Yes, Lady Jane." I obediently reply.

I stand up and place the poker back on its stand and then walk over to the wardrobe and bring out clothes to show Lady Jane.

Next day.

I am in the parlour room beside the kitchen, sitting at the table with one of Lady Jane's dresses with which she asked to have hemmed and taken in at the base. I am sitting next to Clara as I do this, she is sewing one of Lady Mary's night gowns. I speak up at last and ask my sister about Mason.

"Amelia, do you believe what you said to me yesterday morning about Mason?" I ask in a curious, questioning manner.

"Rose, when you began to walk out of Robert's study and when Mason opened the door and saw you, his face, it showed happiness and love for you." She replied earnestly.

"So should I approach him?" I ask unsurely.

"Rose, I think you should wait for Mason to approach you, he saw your reaction when he opened the door." She replied.

"Thank you Amelia." I reply with a hint of happiness in my tone.

I finish taking up and hemming Lady Jane's dress and then I place it on the table and stand up and then carefully pick it up and carry it over both my arms to take back to Lady Jane's wardrobe.

As I am walking back from her bedroom, after placing the dress in the wardrobe, I take the servants stairs down to the kitchen and before I walk in I bump into Mason in the hallway outside the kitchen. I look up at Mason; as he is an inch taller than me, and he looks down at me, and smiles.

"Mason, why are you smiling?" I ask with interest.

Mason continues looking at me.

"I was just coming to find you Rose. Where have you been?" he asks.

"I just came back from placing Lady Jane's dress in her wardrobe. Why?" I reply with curiosity.

"Because I wanted to ask if you wanted to come into town with me to buy some food for the gathering in the kitchen tonight." He asks with keenness in his voice.

"Oh, well I don't have any chores to do until mid-afternoon, so I suppose I could join you." I reply happily.

"Well then, could you fetch the basket for me, while I go attain some money from Robert." He replies.

"Yes of course." I reply, as I walk off towards the kitchen and before I go to fetch the basket, I turn around and look back at Mason and he smiles at me, so I smile back and then turn back around and fetch the basket from the kitchen.

When I have the basket in hand, I walk towards Robert's study and wait for Mason outside with basket in hand.

A few minutes pass and the door opens and Mason walks out while putting the money into his jacket pocket, then he sees me and smiles and I walk up to him and we walk towards the back door that leads into the courtyard. When we are out in the courtyard, Mason asks me

"Rose, I do believe it will be your birthday soon and Amelia's. Also I believe Robert has planned a gathering for you both on Saturday night as you will both be 20, the coming of age."

"Yes Mason, that's correct." I reply unsure of what he is asking.

"Rose, you are a beautiful, kind, and honest, smart woman, and I am in love with you, ever since I started working here 8 years ago and when I first saw you, I adored you, and I just didn't know how to say it until now. Will you allow me to escort you on Saturday night?" Mason replies truthfully with love in his eyes.

I stop walking and stand still in the middle of the dirt path and stare at him in every way, did he really just say all that, I try to speak but my lips and throat have dried up, so I do the only thing I can manage at that moment, I nod.

Mason walks back towards me and slowly reaches his hand out to grab hold of my left hand with his right and he leads me on to continue walking into town with him, he doesn't let go of my hand, I don't either. Neither of us say anything until we reach the town and then Mason finally speaks

"Rose, will you go over and buy some herbs and medicine. While I get some other things. Meet me back in the town square after." Mason asks.

"Ok." I reply.

He hands me a few coins from his pocket and I let go of his hand and walk away to buy the herbs and medicine, I look back and I notice him watching me walk away, when he notices I turned around to look at him he smiles, I smile back and then I turn around and continue walking with the smile still on my face.

20 minutes later.

I gathered all the herbs and medicine and begin to walk back to the town square to meet Mason. When the town square begins to come into view, I see Mason standing by the oak tree in the town square waiting for me and holding something in his hand but I can't quite make it out, when he looks up and sees me approaching he smiles and stands up straight, I walk up to him.

"Mason, if I may ask, what is in your hand?" I ask curiously.

"Rose, I'm sorry but you are going to have to wait until Saturday night." He replies with a smile.

"Ok. Are we ready to head back?" I ask

"Yes we are" Mason replies, and he gently grabs hold of my left hand again but this time it loops it through his right arm. We walk together back towards the Martinez' family home and then we walk around the back through to the courtyard, before we approach the back door to the kitchen though, Mason stops me and I turn to face him to ask why he stopped me, but before I can he has let go of my hand and has put both of his hands on both sides of my face and bent his head down and kissed me with a tender but also intense and passionate kiss. I don't pull away, instead I lift my arms up and place them around his neck and then Mason suddenly pulls away and looks at me, his hands still resting on either side of my face. I look at him, and then he just smiles.

"Rose, you are irresistible, I could not wait any longer too kiss you. I love you."

I stare at him, and realise that I love him too, I move my mouth towards his and kiss Mason with such an intense and meaningful passion that for a moment he is caught by surprise, but then he kisses me back with just as much intensity and passion that we stand there with my arms around his neck and his arms holding my waist close to him for about a minute, before I suddenly pull away, and look at him.

"Mason, I love you too." I give Mason a peck on the cheek and then pull my arms down from around his neck, I remove his arms from my waist, but as I turn to walk away, I feel Mason's hand reach out to hold mine, and I let it, we walk through the back door of the kitchen hand in hand and both of us content, when we walk towards the entryway to the kitchen I let go of Mason's hand and take the basket of herbs in to put in the pantry, when I get there Amelia is in the pantry sitting on the ground with her knees held against her chest with her arms, now I heard it, her quiet sobbing, I kneel down and sit next to her, and put my arms around her, she leans her head on my shoulder.

"Amelia, what happened?" I whisper.

Amelia slowly lifts her head.

"It... It was…Jimmy… he did something unspeakable to me" Amelia sobs and stutters on my shoulder.

"Its ok Amelia, its ok I'm here for you, explain to me from the beginning what happened exactly." I ask her calmly.

She takes a deep breath in and then lifts her head up, and pulls out her handkerchief to wipe her eyes with before she finally speaks.

"It was about 15 minutes after you left with Mason, I was the only one in the kitchen, I was cleaning and putting food away in the pantry and I… I… I didn't hear him come in, I was in the pantry placing vegetables in there and when I turned around to walk out to grab the rest of them…. He was right there in front of me…." She starts sobbing again

I wrap my arms around her "Its ok, its ok he won't come back. You can continue." I reply calmly and in a strong voice, even though inside I'm breaking down just as much as Amelia.

"He…He stroked my cheek with his left hand, and I shivered when he did so…. I was so scared and frightened to what might happen to me, I never did anything wrong, I never flirted or led him on." Amelia replied sobbing into my shoulder.

"Amelia, he will never ever touch you or even look at you again, I'll make sure of it" Mason firmly stated in a protective voice.

"Rose?"

"Yes, Amelia what is it?" I curiously asked to what she would ask of me.

"I… I… I don't want him anywhere near me" she stuttered.

"Its ok Amelia, he will stay away if he wants to stay alive" I replied with hatred towards the monster who did the unspeakable to my sister.

"Amelia you should head to our room and I'll be there soon with supper, I'll dress Lady Jane and Lady Mary tonight, I want you to go and rest for the rest of the evening" I told my sister before standing up and grabbing hold of her hands and pulling her off the ground and into a sisterly hug before watching her leave with a grateful look on her face.

"Thankyou Rose, Thanks Mason, I love you both, you are my family." She said over her shoulder as she was leaving.

When she left the room, Mason turned to face me. "Rose, I'm so sorry, something like this wouldn't happen if she wasn't alone, I shouldn't have asked you to come to town with me and then Amelia would be happy" Mason confessed "Mason, you did nothing wrong, I enjoyed going in to town with you, what happened with Amelia would have happened sooner or later anyway, Jimmy has always been looking at her in a strange, and disgusting way now I know why. Please don't blame yourself, blame Jimmy." I stood on my tip toes and leaned in towards to Mason and kissed him with all the emotions that I held for him.

After what seemed like a lifetime, I pulled back from the passionate kiss and gazed at the man I loved. At some point I had wrapped my arms around his neck and he had his arm wrapped round my waist. It made me feel loved, cared for, protection being in his embrace, I wanted to stay like this forever but first I had to look after my sister and deal with Jimmy. "I love you so much Mason, with all my heart" I finally replied, then I gave him a quick peck on the lips and wriggled out of his embrace to do my jobs and then heal my sister. I turned around and started to walk away to dress lady Jane and lady Mary, when I suddenly felt Mason's hand on my upper arm and he swung me back around and brought me into his chest and wrapped his arms around me into his embrace. I could smell his scent from cooking in the kitchen and I loved it. "Rose, I love you with all my heart and I always will, I'll always be here for you, I'll be at your door tonight ready to escort you down to the kitchen. I love you." And with one last lingering kiss I said goodbye to him until tonight.

A few hours later.

I managed to get all my jobs for the evening done as well as Amelia's while she was resting in our room. I manage to give myself 10 minutes to get ready for tonight and when Mason came to escort me down.

"Rose. How do I look?" Amelia questioned me coming out from behind the changing screen in a beautiful green silk and white flowing lace dress with shoes to match. Her hair was half done up loosely with the rest of it flowing down in soft curls on her back, on the top of her head was a small tiara like clip that made her grand. The green in her dress matched Amelia's eyes which were an emerald green colour.

"you look gorgeous. Maybe tonight Damon will finally take notice of you." I truthfully told. Damon was the butler and Amelia had a massive crush on him, except she didn't know that he likes her too, he just hasn't approached her yet. She deserves to be happy, in love and protected and Damon can give her all that.

"I hope so. Now get behind that dressing screen and get dressed before Mason arrives." She replied.

I walked around to where she got changed and started undressing myself. When I came out from behind the screen I was wearing a beautiful purple silk and white flowing lace dress with shoes to match. It fitted my body perfectly, hugging all my curves and showing a little bit of cleavage but not too much. Our dresses are quite similar except for the base colour choice. We wanted it like that though, because we're twins we wanted to have similar dresses except for the colour, my dress is purple because in my eyes I have blue eyes flecked with spots of green and in some areas of the eye the colours have mixed to form purple. Its unique. No one else has eyes like me. Not even my twin sister.

I step out from behind the dressing screen for my sister to approve. The only sound I hear from her is a loud gasp when I step out.

"Rosemarie Raven you are stunning! I can't wait for the moment when Mason sees you, he is already in love with you, now he will be crazy for you." She truthfully responded.

"I can't wait to see him and his reaction when he sees me either. Amelia… I love him." I reply with truth because I do. I love Mason Ashford with all my heart. I always have and always will.

"I know you do. Now let's get your hair done before Mason shows up." She replies.

I walk over to sit in front of the mirror of our dressing table and stare at myself in the mirror to watch what Amelia does with my hair.

She brushes my hair to start with, then she puts little curls in the ends and pulls hair from either side and then ties the hair up at the back of my head similar to how her hair is done. Then she goes over to my jewellery box and takes out a princess tiara hair clip that is slightly bigger to hers and carefully places on my head and in my hair.

She finishes by touching up my face with some mascara making my eyes bigger and some lipstick.

I stare at myself in the mirror. I look like a princess, not like someone who works as a lady's maid. I look beautiful. As I'm staring at myself in the mirror I glance above my head and notice the tall male frame standing in the doorway staring at me with love. We stare at each other for a few more seconds until he comes over and stands behind me, leaning down to kiss me on the cheek, then as he passes my ear, I feel his lips against it "you are so beautiful Rosemarie, are you ready?"

I can't seem to find my voice so I nod, as I'm standing up, Mason grabs my hand and loops it through his arm. In this moment I feel happy.

"Amelia, I hope you don't mind but I thought you would like an escort as well so I asked if Damon would escort you, he is just outside the door." Mason mentions to Amelia. I give Mason a pointed look as to whether he knows that Damon and Amelia both like each other. Mason just grins at me and leans down and places his lips on mine, giving me a tender and sweet kiss.

When we break away from the kiss, we walk towards the door to where Amelia and Damon are talking and…. Kissing? Yes, they are, Damon is holding Amelia around the waist and is kissing her passionately, with her arms wrapped around his neck. Mason coughs quietly to try to politely tell them its time to head down.

"Um… Sorry to break up the happiness, but its time to head down" Mason politely mentioned, he smirked at Damon who just glared at him.

"Amelia, it would be my honour to escort you" Damon bowed in front of her, then took her arm and looped it through his and they headed down the hallway and toward the stairs together. Mason escorted me down after Amelia and Damon and once we reached the bottom of the stairs. When the staff dining room next to the kitchen came into view, my mouth dropped. The whole room was lit with illuminating candles, the long table and chairs were removed from the room and Daisy, one of the kitchen hands was playing the piano. It was wonderful. I can't believe Robert, helped orchestrate this gathering. Mason tapped me on the shoulder and I looked over into his eyes and he started leading me into the kitchen.

When we entered the kitchen, my mouth dropped open at amazement for yet the second time tonight. On the wooden bench in the middle of the kitchen was a cake "Mason" I whispered.

"I made it myself, in your favourite flavours; Chocolate and Caramel" Mason replied turning around to see my reaction.

Instead of telling him how much he meant and what he did for me, I showed him. I put my hands on either side of his face and pulled him in for a kiss. It felt like time stopped, and it was just the two of us together.

When we finally pulled away to take a breath, Mason kept his arms wrapped around me holding me close.

"I have another present for you" Mason spoke

"really?" I replied

"really. But its going to wait until later tonight, I want to dance with you first." Mason replied with a grin.

"Lets dance" I replied eagerly with a smile.

I let Mason lead me back into the staff dining room to the middle of the room where Damon and Amelia were already slow dancing, we joined them in the middle of the room and I wrapped my arms around Masons neck and swayed to the music played by Daisy on the piano.

8


End file.
